This invention relates to a method and apparatus for winding carpet around a core with a flap, into a roll and particularly to a method and apparatus for automatically feeding carpet through a carpet rolling machine which places an adhesive flap on a core and places the leading edge of the carpet under the flap prior to winding the carpet into a roll around the core. The carpet rolling machine of this invention can be used to roll carpet on a core as it is manufactured, such as from a final treatment machine after a manufacturing process, or as carpet is fed from a large master roll on smaller rolls in a distribution warehouse or the like.
In the manufacture of carpet, the finished product is generally wound into a roll. Broadloom carpet, typically manufactured in twelve to sixteen feet widths, is wound about a paperboard core to preclude bending of the carpet and for handling purposes, the paper board core being left within the rolled carpet.
It is known in the art to use an automatic rolling machine to roll carpet around a core by feeding carpet into a machine which captures the carpet and rolls it around the core. After three or four layers of carpet are rolled around the core, the carpet begins to grip and is eventually tightly held around the core. This process crushes the initial, more loosely wound layers of carpet around the core, and results in creases and malformations which permanently damage the lead end of the carpet. The damaged carpet at the beginning of each roll typically results in loss of carpet to the mill, or wholesale purchaser, because master carpet rolls are commonly sent to distribution centers where the carpet may be re-rolled into smaller rolls for individual orders. Master rolls may sit on racks for months before they are exhausted. This commonly results in a total loss of the first ten to twenty feet of carpet on each original large master roll. In addition, the beginning of each smaller roll may also be crushed and damaged, multiplying the amount of wasted carpet.
In order to avoid the problems associated with automatic rolling machines, such as the loss of carpet due to crushing, it is known to hand start carpet rolling machines by using a pre-manufactured core with a flap and manually feeding the carpet under the flap. The flap protects the carpet from creases and damage to the initial layers around the core. However, hand starting carpet rolling machines is not efficient or economical as it requires time and the labor of at least two or three individuals to hand start the carpet rolling process on each new roll. No prior art machine for accomplishing the same purpose is known to the applicant.
It is also known in the art to hand roll carpet on cores, both with and without flaps, in order to avoid the problems associated with creased or malformed carpet at the end of a roll of carpet. However, this process has disadvantages in that it typically requires two to three individuals who must manually insert the carpet under the flap of the core. Furthermore, once the roll is hand started by manually putting carpet under the flap of the core, the edges must be guided to keep the carpet from telescoping off the end of the roll. Both processes are labor and cost intensive.
Another problem associated with the use of automatic carpet rolling machines is that when the carpet is fed into the rolling machine in a particular orientation, i.e. pile-in or pile-out, the machine can only form a roll with the pile directed inwardly or outwardly as the case may be. It is desirable that regardless of the original orientation of the carpet, a rolling machine should be able to form either a pile-in or pile-out roll, to enable the better form of roll to be selected with regard to the properties of the pile and backing of the carpet.
The present invention recognizes and addresses the foregoing disadvantages, and others, of prior art construction and methods.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a carpet rolling machine which attaches a flap to a core so that carpet can be automatically fed into the carpet rolling machine with that the leading edge of the carpet is gripped or adhered between the flap and the core, and the carpet is rolled around the core without damaging any significant amount of carpet.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a carpet rolling machine having a simple and effective means for directing the leading edge of carpet for forming either a pile-in or pile-out carpet roll. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a carpet rolling machine having an arrangement of movable deflectors for guiding the leading edge of carpet to a flap on a core for forming a roll of carpet having either a pile-in or pile-out orientation.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for attaching an adhesive flap on a core and feeding carpet under the adhesive flap prior to rolling carpet about the core.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a carpet rolling machine in one embodiment comprising: a storage magazine having a storage magazine top deck with a conveyor belt that indexes master carpet rolls toward an elevator which carries the carpet to an unroll cradle. The unroll cradle has two rollers to unroll the carpet into a squaring table which measures and ultimately cuts the carpet with a dual shear cross-cutter. Located above the squaring table is a dispenser which dispenses cores. Once an appropriate core is dispensed, the core is transported to core placement arms which hold and center the core. A flap applicator moves across the length of the core applying a paper flap to the core with an adhesive strip.
After the flap has been attached to the core, the core is transported to a precise position on the roll up. The unroll cradle feeds the leading edge of the carpet across the squaring table and into the roll up so that the leading edge is forced to a position between the core and the flap. With the leading edge of the carpet between the core and flap, the roll up winds the carpet around the core. After the carpet has been fully wound around the core, it may be transferred to an accumulation table to be wrapped and moved away, ready for distribution.